hold on Tight
by Techno Skittles
Summary: It was the worst match up, in retrospect. The girl who always runs paired with the girl always left behind. / / Originally posted on tumblr as a response to an ask prompt. Written before Volume 3.
_**{Like you to stay; Want to keep you inside}**_

"So that's it? You're leaving?"

Her hand paused on the doorknob, the tarnished metal cool against her palm, the weight of her actions heavy in her heart. Her shoulders tensed from the shame of being caught, that shame bringing pricks of tears to her eyes.

She had hoped to make this seamless. Painless. To be nothing but a whisper on the wind by the time morning dawned, far away and long gone.

She should've known better than to think so naively.

Blake inhaled deeply, the breath shaking in her lungs, betraying her unsteadiness and emotional distraught. She must remain strong and unmoving, her resolve had to be set in stone. She could not afford to be swayed, not when she was so close, her escape right before her, the freedom an aroma-induced taste.

"Yes," she said simply.

She didn't turn around; she didn't want to see the pain her words caused. It would be the crack in her armor, the chip in her foundation that would bring her crumbling until she was nothing but a pile of rubble - the aftermath of something once incredible, now useless and pitied. And though she saw nothing with her eyes, the ears on top of her head twitched when they detected the sharp intake of breath followed by the quickening of it behind her, the air trembling in her chest.

"Blake…you're…..you're better than this."

At this she scoffed and tightened her grip on the doorknob. "I've been running away all my life. It's who I am."

Even though she had promised herself she was done. She didn't want to run away anymore, but it was an urge she couldn't shake off, a drive that she couldn't seal up and discard. She was never meant to stay in one place too long - it went against her very nature. Her semblance was a direct reflection of who she was - a shadow….an afterimage left behind that would fade over time, her memory and legacy dissolving into nonexistence as she was forgotten by those she left behind.

The moonlight shining through their dorm room window cast her shadow against the rectangle of light on the door, but the angle of it distorted it, twisting and marring it until it was nearly unrecognizable as her own.

Sad amber eyes traced the grim lines that outlined her form, her heart aching with how beastly it looked.

 _Just like you_.

She picked up the shift of movement behind it, the gentle caress of flesh against flesh. It was only when she heard the sniffle that she realized Yang had begun to cry.

Her hand wavered on the doorknob, her grip loosening as it began to shake in her hand. She could physically feel her resolve eroding away with each tear that Yang cried, with each pained breath she took.

"Was it….was it something I said? Something I did?"

Her head lifted in surprise before dropping back to her chest in shame. Of course Yang would blame herself for Blake's departure. To that girl, nothing was ever the faunus' fault. She was probably the only person in her life…in the world who would ever hold her up on such a high pedestal as she did. Even though she was nowhere close to deserving such reverence.

She only managed a brief shake of her head, afraid that if she said anything now she would display the weakness she felt and join Yang in her tears.

It was silent once more, Yang quietly sniffling and still wiping away tears, Blake boring a hole into the door in front of her with the determination not to turn around. The two girls stood in the quiet of the night, the tension in the air so fragile it could shatter with a touch from a feather. The strain pulled on her already fraying nerves, the turmoil boiled up something rotten in her stomach, made worse with each gasp of air behind her.

"W-where will you go?"

Blake sighed. "I'm not sure." _Anywhere but here_.

"S-so why-"

"Because I _can't_ , okay?" she cut off. Yang fell silent to her biting words coupled with her harsh tone and remorse immediately flooded into her system, pulling down her hunched shoulders. "I just…I need to go," she said, much softer this time.

There was a slight pause.

"Will you…be happier…if you leave?"

Blake tensed. Would she? It never brought her much joy to run away from those she cared about despite her having done so time and time again. And while it was true that she was happy in the short time she spent between each of her escapes, she could never honestly say she was happier.

Not wanting to lie, she merely shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe."

Her hand twitched on the doorknob again. She really needed to go….

"You don't have to stay."

She blinked slowly, processing just what was being said. It's not the first time she had been told this or seen it on someone's face as she left them.

She was being let go.

A dull ache settled in her heart at the disappointment of being released so easily, the blonde hardly having put up a fight for her to stay. Normally she was so rambunctious; she'd pick a fight just because she could. She was also stubborn and fought heavily for what she believed in, never one to back down when she knew that she hadn't given her all just yet. It was what got her hurt plenty of times and even endangered her life a handful of those times, but it was something that Blake had always admired when she wasn't off worrying for the brawler's safety. To hear those words of defeat uttered so meekly from her mouth, the tremble of her voice from the strain of holding back tears, cut Blake deep.

Yang was giving up on her.

That thought alone should've pushed her forward, should've had her out the door and running down the length of the halls, her shadows concealing her from any watchful eyes that happened to be awake at such an absurd hour. Instead it held her back, her hand dropping completely from the knob to her side where it hung limply. Her chest burned and her throat closed up as she realized just what was about to transpire, the action that, should she follow through, could change her life for good but not necessarily for the better.

She had run away many times. It was simply a part of her nature. It was just who she was.

But this time felt so different. Blake had experienced regret and nostalgia before, a homesickness that would follow her around for the rest of her life when the smallest of things reminded her of someone she once knew. But right here, right now….it was _different_.

If she left now she may truly fall apart…and she no longer had the supplies she needed to piece herself back together.

Her resolve dissolving into dust, she whipped her head around to face Yang. The first of her tears welled up in her eyes when she was not met with watery lilac or a forlorn expression, but rather just a mass of blonde curls.

Yang had turned away.

Her shoulders were hunched over, arms clinging to her sides in some form of a self-hug or as some way to hold herself together. Her whole body trembled, knees wobbling dangerously as she tried her best to remain standing, not wanting to crumble and fall apart until Blake was gone and wouldn't be able to see her meltdown.

Dropping her bag on the floor, ignoring the heavy thunk it made at her feet, she strode over to where Yang was standing before throwing her arms around her waist and pulling her tight against her chest. Her partner gasped in surprise and only managed half a word before the rest of her sentence fell into a jumbled mess of sobs. Finally she collapsed to the floor, Blake following suit as the two knelt on the carpeted ground of their shared room, Yang sobbing freely and Blake finally letting her own tears fall.

They sat there for awhile, only moving when Blake shifted to sit in front of Yang and hold her to her chest as the blonde continued to cry. Desperate hands reached up to claw at the back of her shirt, dull nails digging into her shoulder blades as Yang hung onto her, unwilling to let her go despite her resolution to do so earlier.

"Please…d-don't leave…" she begged, words muffled by the swell of her chest. "I don't w-want to be left b-behind again… _please_."

Blake hushed her softly with reassurances that she was staying and mixing in apologies for ever even thinking of leaving, of scaring her like that. Thin fingers combed through blonde locks of hair, smoothing it down as the girl in her arms continued to sob, her fear of abandonment being fully displayed by way of the vice grip she had on the faunus and the strangled pleas that left her lips every so often.

Above them, the moon continued to shine down on them, their shadows intertwined and indiscernible from the other, two puzzle pieces connecting as one.

* * *

 **A/N:** _We could've had it alllllllllllllllllllllll~_

So I was sifting through my fic tag on tumblr and came across this little gem I wrote _ages_ ago that I never posted here. And honestly I'm really glad I put it off because _oh it hurts so much more now knowing what we know_.

Can you spot the differences between this and the Vol 3 finale? :D (I'll give you a hint: Yang still has two things here that she doesn't in canon)

*ollies out before y'all come after me*

Also, if you could support me on , that would be _fantastic_! Honestly, just $1 per fic would be enough to make my day and I don't even post more than 4 times a month so that's a minimum of $4 a month. Cheaper than netflix (admittedly, less consistent and only half as decent). Plus, if you do that you get to read all of my fics about 1-2 days earlier than everyone else. So perks. Link is on my profile if you wanna give it a go.


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